what the papers say

Saturday reaction pieces look to January

Monday sees reaction to Saturday's draw, with yet more transfer speculation thrown in for good measure.

The Independent

"Window gives City stalwarts worrying view of the future"

Fabio
Capello was in the crowd but it was not just the Englishmen who were
undergoing auditions at Craven Cottage on Saturday. The High Streets
are counting down the shopping days to Christmas but at Manchester City
they are looking a week further ahead, to New Year's Day and the
opening of the transfer window.

City insist most of the stellar
names linked with the club are purely speculative. Given the
improbability of prising the likes of Iker Casillas or Lionel Messi
away from their clubs mid-season – and who believes these millionaires
would join a middling English club's quest for a Uefa Cup place just
for a pay rise? – their denials are unlikely to be disproved. City will
be one of the window's major players. It is just that their recruits
are unlikely to be the marquee signings the owners hanker after. For
the player who is dropped, however, it matters little whether it is
Lassana Diarra or Kaka who has taken his place. Premier League
footballers are always under pressure but City's must feel like
contestants on The X Factor.

Didier Hamann is the kind of
unspectacular but quietly valuable player often tossed aside when a
club gets starry-eyed. He showed his usual efficiency on Saturday as
City began well, Benjani heading in from the impressive Pablo
Zabaleta's cross, wobbled, then rallied, to deservedly share the points
with Fulham whose good form was underlined by the flowing move for
Jimmy Bullard's equaliser. Hamann then explained he was focused on his
own work rather than worrying about possible replacements.

"It's
not in our hands who is coming in in January," he said. "[But] our
manager has said whoever plays well and applies himself the way he
should do has a future at the club."

Hughes suggested the
speculation was hysterical but confirmed City's intent when he said: "I
don't think there are going to be many clubs looking to spend in the
window so we may have a competitive advantage." But he added: "Clubs do
not have to sell."

Daily Mirror

"CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CITY? THAT'S RICH!"

Being the richest club in the world isn't easy. Just ask Manchester City.

A
charge for the Champions League has slowed down to a crawl away from
the drop zone while a long-running European saga has seen the squad
take more knocks than in an interview with Robinho.

All Mark Hughes can do is go out and spend millions of petro-dollars in the January transfer window.

While
David Villa and Franck Ribery are the latest to be linked with the
supermarket sweep of new talent, old campaigner Didi Hamann admitted
the current team is struggling to cope with the club's new-found
wealth.

It is a predicament which needs time as well as money.

Manchester City's season began way back in July before the arrival of the Abu Dhabi United Group and their expensive ambitions.

Now
26 games on, and with Robinho one of 12 elite players sidelined, City
were relieved to leave little Craven Cottage on Saturday with a draw.

Hamann,
who won the 2005 Champions League with Liverpool, admitted the club's
resources are being stretched to the limit by fighting on too many
fronts.

"Last season we didn't have that many injuries and that's because we didn't play in Europe," said the German.

"We played our first competitive game in July and have played quite a few games more than other sides.

"You have to change your rhythm and your training when you play twice a week. But I think we will get used to it.

"Hopefully next week we will have some players back and should be okay."

Yet Hamann stretched credulity by claiming this January window is "the same for every club."

"Obviously
we had a change in ownership but in every club managers will always try
to strengthen their team. I don't see our situation at the moment as
any different to any other club or any other time," he said.

Except that City have millions to invest while nobody else has two brass farthings to rub together.

Fulham
could argue that City were lucky to come away with a point after ref
Rob Styles missed Richard Dunne's first-half handball in the City box.

"We need quite a few more points on the board at this point of the season," Hamann went on.

"We have to get on with the job and see what's happening in January.

But I don't believe we are in a relegation fight. We have to believe in ourselves."

City started brightly and took the lead after six minutes when Benjani headed home Pablo Zabaleta's right-wing cross.

But
Jimmy Bullard's 27th-minute equaliser ensured Fulham extended their
unbeaten run to five games before the match petered out after the
break.